Rioters still in control of Chókwè

Maputo, 20 Feb (AIM) – For the third consecutive day, the town of Chokwe, in the southern Mozambican province of Gaza, was at a virtual standstill as bands of rioters looted shops and set several buildings on fire, including the local offices of the ruling Frelimo Party, and of the government’s water supply agency, FIPAG.

Protesters interviewed by the independent television station STV, complained of the allegedly high price of water and of electricity. They wanted water bills capped at 100 meticais (about 1.5 US dollars) a month.

Rioters also smashed up the Chokwe district education services, and forced the closure of ten schools.

The chaotic situation in Chokwe also affected the publicly owned rail company, CFM, which cancelled the Wednesday passenger train from Maputo to Chicualacuala on the Zimbabwean border. The line passes through Chokwe, and CFM thought it better to cancel the train rather than risk an attack by the Chokwe rioters.

In the Gaza beach resort of Bilene, a group of youths marched through the town shouting the name of former presidential candidate, Venancio Mondlane, and demanding a reduction in the prices of basic foods.

According to the mayor of Bilene, Mufundisse Chilengue, this was a genuinely peaceful demonstration, and the marchers did not destroy anything.

It was very different in the municipality of Homoine in the adjacent province of Inhambane, where rioters invaded the Frelimo offices, and stole the flagpole from which the Frelimo flag is normally flown.

They burnt a pick-up truck belonging to the director of the Homoine secondary school.

Here the crowd was protesting, not only at the high cost of living, but also at the Secondary School charging parents for the wages of security guards. If true, this is an illegal practice. The Education Ministry has repeatedly made it clear that children’s attendance at school cannot be made dependent on paying for security staff.

The school is also demanding that pupils buy uniforms which the school sells for 1,500 meticais (about 23 US dollars).

According to Thursday’s issue of the independent newssheet “Carta de Mocambique”, a group of protesters went to the school on Wednesday, and demanded that the money some of them had already paid for the security guards and the uniforms be returned. When this demand was rejected, they set fire to the director’s car.

The protesters have tried to force Homoine shopkeepers to drop their prices. A meeting was held on Tuesday with some shopkeepers, and the protesters said they could open their shops to sell the goods they had in stock, but were forbidden from receiving any new stock until they reached an agreement on prices with the rioters.

The shopkeepers rejected this illegal demand, and said they would rather keep their shops closed.

“Carta de Mocambique” attempted to contact the mayor of Homoine, Jovial Setina – but he had gone into hiding, immediately after a group of protesters had shown up at his office.

The spokesperson for the Inhambane Provincial Police Command, Nercia Bata, also refused to comment on the situation in Homoine.
(AIM)
Pf/ (511)